Lost Friend
by TheCreativeCasseroles
Summary: Summary: Where was he? This isn't… this wasn't… how did he even get here? Many of these questions and more ran through a young teen's mind. He must find someone dear to him and find their way home… now if only he could find out where 'here' is exactly. Also on AO3 and Wattpad.
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first Jak and Daxter fanfiction! I do hope you will enjoy this. Truth be told I only have three chapters done as we speak and a fourth one still in the works. Unfortunately I'm unsure exactly when I'll be done with said fourth chapter so… I guess don't expect anything for a long time? I'll try to like, post the other two chapters after long intervals so then there could be more time to write said fourth chapter and so on and so forth until I actually finish this fic. However with my track record with previous fics this might not be… achieved. But, I wanted this out there for anyone to read so here it is! Enjoy!**

* * *

 _ **Chapter one**_

He's falling. Why is he falling? How could he be falling? He wasn't _anywhere_ near a place to fall from and a normal trip down to the ground definitely doesn't take as long as this. Oh and _Jack hasn't caught him yet._ (Which was unusual in of itself since he would always be there to catch him whenever he fell.)

He then noticed that his eyes were shut. So he opened them. _Only to see nothing but a dark abyss._ In that moment when it clicked, he inhaled a lung full of air to scream. Which was good for him since the next moment he felt the pain of water (or he hopes it was water) smacking his skin worse than a belly flop. The frigid liquid engulfed him. Unfortunately the shock of the cold made him open his mouth, releasing some of that precious air.

His whole body was shooting through the water, slowing down the further he went. Eventually he stopped and for a moment, he had no idea which was up nor down.

His body began to rise. Or was it sink? He had no clue. The teen ended up flailing his limbs around in some sort of attempt at swimming. He was panicking so of course he couldn't properly swim. Even if he wasn't panicking and was properly swimming, he wouldn't be sure if he was going in the right direction. At that point he _still_ had no idea if he was going to live or die.

(He would find it rather pathetic if he ended up dying in water after so many years living practically right next to the ocean. Not to mention his friend would resurrect him only to make sure he'll never be near deep enough water for him to drown in. Man could that guy get protective.)

It had felt like ages, or it could've been seconds, he didn't know, before he broke the surface. He gasped desperately for fresh air, lungs demanding to let go of the stale air that it held. The boy opened his eyes only to see the dark abyss once more. His heart began to race even faster than it already had as he tried to look around and keep his head above the water.

The biggest question that came to mind in that moment wasn't if he was going to stay alive or not. No, the biggest question in that moment was: where was his best friend?

"Jack?" He called out. "Jack where are you?"

He tried to search around but it was useless. He couldn't see a thing in that darkness.

"Come on man!" A wave made it so his head went down under. Immediately did he fight to go back up. "Jack!" He sputtered out.

"You!" A deep, masculine voice suddenly cut through to him. "What in the world do you think you're doing?" The person demanded.

Not Jack.

He whipped his head around, trying to pinpoint where the voice was coming from. "Trying to stay alive!" He snapped in his nasally voice that sounded like he was swallowing sandpaper. Which was unusual since the sounding like swallowing sandpaper normally didn't happen. Although he didn't really dwell on that. He dwelled on where the heck the voice was coming from. And if the person was even talking to him.

"If you're trying to stay alive then you gotta stop flailing around like that! You'll drown!" The person pointed out with what could be irritation and disbelief. Yep. They were talking to him.

"Don't think I don't know that?!" He cried out, still trying to find where the voice is. "You try being in my position!"

Had the person spoke again, he wasn't sure. What he was sure was that he heard a rather large splash to the left of him and not long after a small wave compared to the one earlier made him bob up and down. Finally did he hear what he assumed to be the person swim to him. To his surprise, a large hand grabbed him by the back of his shirt and began to practically drag him away. Or at least the swimming equivalent of being dragged away.

He felt his lower body be dragged up something hard. Something cold.

 _'Metal?'_ Was the thought that went through his mind as he gasped and coughed whilst being put down to lay on the ground. At the time he was beginning to calm down, he finally noticed how cold it was outside. Didn't help that it was windy, so over all, he felt like he was freezing.

He just laid there for who knows how long, catching his breath, letting the adrenaline rush fade. And his companion didn't say a word the whole time.

"What's up with your ears?" His savior suddenly asked.

He scrunched up his face. "My ears are just fine." He breathed out. Self consciously he then touched his ears. Perhaps there was some nasty pimples on there. Nope. Felt the same as always. "What's up with _your_ ears?"

 _'Man what a lame comeback,'_ he thought to himself with a wince. How old was he? Five? No, a fourteen year old should've made a better, wittier, remark. In his defense, however, he had just gone through a rather terrible experience. (It was practically a life and death situation. No, it was a life and death situation. To make matters worse, a horrible, sinking, feeling of dread was growing in the depths of his stomach telling him that there was more of that to come. Just great.) He expected to hear his best friend to groan at his comment for how terrible it was.

There was nothing.

However, to his surprise the stranger laughed. "Fair enough Chili Pepper."

After that they were both silent. He needed to collect his thoughts.

 _'Okay,'_ he began to think, _'I fell into water and it hurt worse than a belly flop. Or what I hope is water.'_ His whole body shuddered at the mere thought of it not being water. He didn't want to know what it was if it wasn't water.

The teen rubbed a hand against his face. He did it to take the liquid off, to get some feeling back into his mug, and just out of exhaustion. He huffed in frustration.

 _'And it's too dark to find Jack and I can't hear him.'_

.

.

"JACK!" He bolted right up, not caring how his whole body was shaking or how his legs were trembling like a newborn fawns. "Jack where are ya buddy?"

Two warm hands took a soft yet firm hold on his shoulders, both steadying him and keeping him from doing something drastic. He didn't hear anything coming towards him.

"Whoa there, calm down." The stranger said. "Take deep breaths."

It never occurred to him that he started hyperventilating.

"Good. Keep on doing that."

In. Out. In. Out.

A moment later, he heard the voice again. "Feeling better?" The person's voice was gentle and held concern.

"Uh." Oh well would you look at that? He was probably blushing. Mainly due to the fact that he felt like his face was melting from lava. "Yeah. Thanks."

"Good. Now, I know this might sound strange, but why don't you come on over to a place I know to get you dried up? Some new clothes are in order so you wouldn't catch a cold." They offered.

He blinked. Rather rapidly at that.

"Excuse me," he quick cleaned his left ear with his pinky as he thought it might've been full of (hopefully) water, "did I hear you right? You're offering _me_ , a complete and utter stranger a warm place to rest and basically tend to my injuries? With no catches? No deals?"

Surely the stranger managed to look sheepish if there were any lights on. Since there wasn't, unfortunately, he didn't know if said stranger did managed to look at the very least sheepish of this kind, yet suspicious, offer.

Of course he was always somewhat suspicious of things, but for all he knew this person could've been the one to drop him into the water and 'saved' him in order to get something out of him.

Or maybe it was paranoia due to the fact that Jack couldn't be found.

"That's a good point, but I have to admit, Cherry, you remind me of someone I know; and I know for a fact that he would appreciate the help if he were in trouble. Such as almost drowning in the harbor. And I think that friend of yours you were shouting for would want you to get dry too."

He heard a shift of what could be fabric and metal (metal? Really? Sounds way too much for everyday jewelry. Speaking of metal, why is he standing on some? No one uses metal for things like sidewalks. They might use it for a pier though or things of that sort) so the person was probably shifting their body. Maybe in a 'hands on hips' type of deal. "So what do you say?"

He huffed and managed to run his hand through his wet, red hair. A passing thought ran through his head that he ought to cut it for it was growing rather long. Although with that going through, his main ordeal was if he was actually going to go with the stranger or not.

 _'I swear if Jack is going to give me grief over this I'm going to shave his head. Eyebrows and all.'_ He thought to himself as he came to a conclusion.

"Okay okay." He spoke aloud with exhaustion in his tone. "Ya worn me down. But I expect you to give me a flashlight or something because I swear it is _pitch black_ here. Like seriously, are we in a cave or somethin'?"

Silence was his answer and a frightening cold wind passed by, chilling him to the bone; making him rattle not unlike the last leaf hanging on a tree during the brutalist snowstorm of midwinter. He fear he would soon become numb and frostbite would come along not long after. He was a child of the summer, of beaches where snow grace the sand once in a blue moon with a quick kiss of a childhood lover that one might meet for what could perhaps be the last time. It also didn't help that he was quite gangly, hardly any fat on him whatsoever if it wasn't baby fat. Puberty was like an absent parent. Has not shown up yet until the last minute if at all. To make matters worse, it wasn't the last minute for him yet. (He should be glad that his voice wasn't cracking yet, unlike the other boys. Some of them already had their voices deepened and a few of them already sound like full grown men while Jack…)

So all the while, he had a horrible, terrible, _bad_ feeling that something awful was going on.

Ever so slowly, his companion began to speak, almost like to an animal that they didn't want to spook away. "I think... I'll get a doctor to take a look at you... make sure nothing's wrong and all that."

He shifted, moving his arms so that he could rub them and try to get back some lost heat. "That doesn't sound ominous at all." He couldn't help but snark with an eye roll. Internally he winced.

Stupid defense mechanism. Or whatever it is that made him snarky, sassy, and all things witty whenever he didn't want anyone to truly see what he was thinking. (Except Jack could read him like an open book with large print intended for the visually impaired. And he him.)

"Right. I'm going to give you my arm so I can guide you alright?"

"Okay yeah sure. Just don't get any ideas." He tried to give a stink eye in what he hoped to be where the face was. The teen then reached out a hand and he swore he jumped a mile high when he felt even _more_ metal. "Are ya wearing armor?!" He exclaimed with a gaping mouth.

His companion had the audacity to chuckle good heartedly. "Got to protect myself somehow." Was the reply.

"Yeesh. Never thought a brave and noble knight in shining armor would ever save me from drowning of all things." He shook his head at the notion of it all. He then wagged his finger as he was tugged to begin walking. "Now don't think for a minute that you'll tell stories 'bout this and paint me as a damsel in distress. I ain't no princess and I heck as don't look any good in a dress."

"I wouldn't dream of it Chili Pepper." There was _definitely_ mirth in there and a smirk, he could tell.

As they walked, he began to absorb anything about his whereabouts that he could gain without the usage of his sight. It smelled just awful. Not like rotten flesh or food or anything like that. Perhaps of garbage, but that was like an under layer. It was as if something was smothering the scent of the ocean for he lived so near it for so long to never forget the sweet salty smells of the grand body of water. That something was worse than gasoline or propane. It was... darker if he could describe it like that. As if it had a sinister undertone perhaps. If a smell could ever smell sinister. It was like acid and burned the nose but not enough that one would have to sneeze constantly. In fact, he wasn't sure if the wind helped or hindered the scents. Smoke was in the air as well. Cigarette smoke to be precise. (He never did like the smell of cigarettes. Couldn't ever wrap his mind around the idea that there were people who liked it.) There was also some smells of food in the air, but it wasn't that much. However it did seemed to get closer to them. Or they to the cause of it.

The sounds were louder the more he payed attention to them. Hardly any conversations about, only what sounded like officers (a lot of them from how many they passed) reporting in, that told him that there were other living beings around him and his savior. There was also the fact that what sounded like vehicles moving about. Boats were probably out and about which clued him in that he probably landed in the ocean or in a sea. Or a huge lake even. Although because of that sweet salty underlining scent of salt water, it was most likely an ocean or sea. (Which made him as happy as he could in his situation to know that he was actually in water and nothing undesirable. But it also sucked because if no one was careful he would've been ran over by one of the boats. That wave that made him go under was probably the result of one of said boats wake and he was too panicky to have noticed the noise of the floating device.) However the oddest thing was he heard the sounds of motors _above_ him that were _too_ close for comfort.

These sounds above him really drew his attention and he tried to figure out what they were. They were too low to be planes and helicopters as he would feel the great wind they would cause. Too loud to be drones. In fact they sounded an awful lot like motorcycles, but that couldn't be right. Unless of course someone finally managed to create a hovercraft of some sort. And if they did then they have got to bring them over to his area because they have nothing like it. And surely him riding a hovercraft will bring all the babes to him. First he needs to learn how to drive though.

It was the wave of warm air that really indicated him the change of environment.

"Watch your step now." Said his metal wearing companion.

Carefully, almost shyly, he felt his foot around and found that there was a slight step up. With more confidence did he enter the threshold.

"Just to let you know, there's tables around here. I'm going to take you to a friend of mine. She can help you with some clothes while I get you your doctor." They told him.

"Okay, cool." He said. A moment later, almost like an afterthought he said, "thanks."

"It's no problem. Like I said, you remind me of a friend of mine." They said with a slight chuckle in their voice… and what had sounded like bittersweetness.

"Sig?" A voice that sounded like it belonged to the female verity spoke in a questioning tone.

"Tess, could you get this young man a towel and some dry clothes? He decided to take a dip in the harbor." His savior, Sig (short for Sigmund?) perhaps, slipped their arm from his hand to gently push him towards Tess who he only knows as another voice.

He felt himself flush at this. "It ain't my fault I was hurled inta the water!" He protested. "If I had my way I woulda never had that happen!"

Once he said that, he heard Tess gasped.

"How did that happen?" Tess asked in a way that he couldn't really describe other than it was hard, dare he say struggle, to say it for a moment.

He opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it with a click. Blood was draining from his face as his memory came up with a blank. "I don' remember." He ended up whispering.

Instead of actually paying attention to what was going on around him, he went inwards to try to recall what had exactly happened.

It was the last day of school and he and his friend were walking home. After that it started to get fuzzy. Maybe they went to his house? Or was it Jack's? He wasn't sure. They probably had dinner since he wasn't hungry at all. Actually he was kind of thirsty for some water. Almost drowning probably did that to people. He wasn't sure since he never almost drowned before.

Did they go to bed? Did he end up painting or drawing something? He couldn't have been sculpting since he just can't create anything with clay. Or any 3D art in general. Sewing doesn't count, but all of their clothes were perfectly fine. And he doesn't know how to actually make clothes. That was Jack's specialty. That and writing. In fact if Jack wanted too, he could probably write a ballad or a novel that would be praised and read for future generations to come.

But that wasn't the point. The point was, he couldn't remember what they did after that. It hadn't anything to do with Jack's uncle or else he would remember that. He tends to remember a lot of things that happen when Jack's uncle was around. Annalise and Jacob had nothing to do it either because he couldn't remember them either. And he makes sure he remembers everything when those two were home.

So it _had_ to have been just him and Jack. Because if it was… well…

How did this happened?

"…et's see if these fit you." These words gently led him back to the world.

The teen shook his head, as if to bring himself back together. "I'm sorry what?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Just saying how if these clothes fit you." It was Tess.

"Ah." It finally occurred to him that he had a towel wrapped around him.

 _'Oh geez. How long was I out of it?'_ He thought worriedly. Who knows what could've happened to him.

It's not like he doesn't trust these guys or anything… okay so he _still_ doesn't exactly trust them a whole lot. Sure they're helping him out, apparently out of goodwill, and that's great. However can he be blamed for being cautious around strangers that he just plain doesn't know? 'Stranger danger' and all that.

"I'm going to hand you your clothes and step out of the room so you can change okay? There's a table to your immediate left to put your wet clothes on." Tess told him as he was given the clothes into his awaiting arms. He gave Tess a smile in reassurance before he heard them walk out of the room and the door close with a click.

... he was alone.

With a heavy sigh, he set down the dry set of clothes on the table he found quite close to him on the left. For he didn't really know how long, he used his arms to lean his body against the face of the table and just… felt the exhaustion buried deep into his bones. Slowly, he began to undress, starting with the towel.

He rubbed it, the towel, against his hair in what would be the last time if he had any say in it. Then went his shirt and worked from there. Since he couldn't see, he didn't even attempt to fold anything. He blindly went for the towel again because he was being finicky, didn't really know what he wanted to do, and ended up deciding to wipe his body with the towel so the new clothes wouldn't get wet.

 _'Man I hope I'm actually alone for this… and no hidden cameras or whatever.'_ He even tried to look over his shoulder but it was useless. It was still dark as dark could be.

He sighed once more as he fumbled with the new clothing that was given to him. He had accidentally put limbs through holes that weren't meant for those appendages, put things on backwards, and just overall didn't get things right until he did. What was given to him was a bit baggy and was meant for someone who was taller than him, but it would have to do until his clothes were dry.

There was a soft knock on the door. Softly, he heard the voice of Tess float through. "Are you done?"

He cleared his throat before answering with a "yeah" as he didn't truly trusted his voice at that moment.

A click of the door indicated that Tess was coming back in.

"Hmm…" Tess hummed. "It's a little large on you, but I think it'll have to do."

He rolled his eyes. "A little? I feel like I'm swimming in it." He exaggerated. And it was a good thing too because it made Tess giggle.

"No, it's not that bad." Tess said with a little more giggles at the end.

It was that moment that he felt a little smitten.

"Weeeeellll," he drew out, "it could use a little hemming on the legs, but I can grow into 'em." He flashed Tess, in what he hoped, a handsome smile.

The other person giggled once more before being oh so gracious to lead him back to what was most likely the front of the building by their dainty hand.

Tess was even kind enough to help him get on a stool. There was a counter and for a moment he imagined that he was at a bar.

"Water?" Tess asked. That image of a bar grew stronger as Tess became a bartender in his mind's eye.

"Unless you have something stronger." He couldn't help but joke.

"I don't think she's allowed to give alcohol to minors." The voice from before, the first voice he heard other than his own when he got to this new place, came up from behind with heavy footfalls.

"I don't think he's in any shape for anything stronger than water anyways." Tess said before turning her attention back to him. "Don't mind Sig. He's just teasing."

He didn't mind at all. So he shrugged with a grin on his face. "It's all good. Heard that there's some that'll make ya regret touching the stuff." He winked in what he thinks was Tess's direction. "Although if you're serving them I'm sure they'll be divine."

She has got to be blushing.

"Oh? You think so?" She asked with what he hopes to be a blush.

"Think so? I know so!" He exclaimed. "Why with that beautiful voice of yours, you'd get the best of the best."

"Oh stop." Tess said it in a teasing way. "You're making me blush."

Nah, he was going to continue. "I'm serious! Your voice is like a melody. And your laughter is as if I'm listening to silver bells on a clear crisp morning."

She giggled at this.

"It's a real shame that I can't see you right now. A voice that beautiful must belong to a beautiful lady. Although…" he trailed off.

"Although?" Tess prompted.

"Although I don't think it would be proper for a lowly human like me to look at a goddess like you." He finish with a frown and a look of hurt. It wasn't exactly fake because he actually really did want to see what Tess looks like. He was starting to fear for the worse.

"… Awww that's so sweet of you!" Tess cooed.

He flipped his frown upside down. "But it's true! You have got to be a goddess. Sad to say I don't know you that much what you're a goddess of but, as cliche as it sounds, you'd probably be the goddess of beauty. Maybe even the goddess of love." At the last sentence he waggled his eyebrows.

"Oh I wouldn't say that." She said with another giggle.

"You know," Sig cut in, reminding everyone that he was indeed there, "I think you're a little too young for her."

"If I said I was eighteen years old, would you believe me?" He asked, battering his eyelashes just for show.

He got laughs at this.

 _'This,'_ he thought, _'is where I reign king.'_

Honestly, the young teen would rather make people laugh then have them be down. Or in this case, pity him. So he would make jokes and do his best to make others laugh. Especially Jack.

"I think that's enough. Time to get to business." Sig said to him.

He felt himself involuntary flinch. He tried to give Sig an eyeing look, but he didn't feel confident on where he was actually staring at. He was getting a bad feeling about this. (He was getting a lot of bad feelings this whole entire time.)

"What's up?" He tried to ask all nonchalant.

"Unfortunately I couldn't get a hold of the doctor I was talking about earlier, but I know a guy who can help you." The man told him.

He couldn't help but deflate. "What do you mean by 'a guy that can help me'?"

Tess must've looked like she was going to say something because Sig shifted his body, maybe to raise a hand, and said, "no he's got a point. We're strangers to him and he doesn't entirely trust us. Am I right?" Sig addressed this to him.

He shifted in his seat and a blush rose to his cheeks. Meekly he said, "yeah."

The older man _must've_ had an 'I told you so' look to his face to Tess.

"Look, kid. Don't worry about it. He's a great guy and he'll get you to someone to check you out. He's on his way over and while we wait either Tess or I can put your stuff into a bag for you to hold them okay?" Sig had said it in such a way he couldn't help but think of a brotherly figure in the man. Like the older brother that's way older than you that he's out of college older.

He was silent for a while. Just. Thinking. Digesting the knowledge that was given to him and processing it.

"Yeah. Okay." He finally spoke.

He could practically feel the relief rolling off of the two.

"Right. Tess, why don't you get this young man his water you offered while I get his stuff together." Sig suggested as he walked away from them.

"Yes sir!" He imagined Tess doing a mock salute while saying that.

"And I don' want a single thing missing!" He called out in a way that could be seen as mocking good naturally to those close to him.

He heard the man chuckle and replied with a 'will do'.

The boy leaned his back and arms against the counter as he listened to the clicks and clacks of the glasses Tess was handling as she was getting him water. Other than that the building (now pretty much confirmed as a bar) was pretty silent with all things considering. Sounded like there was no customers around and things were getting a little bit busier outside. And he means a lot by a little bit.

As he soaked in the surroundings he did smell some food in the back, but it was faint like it was cooked some time before he came. Maybe for the last patron that had just left before he entered. The scent of booze and cigarettes were in the air as well, but both were overthrown by a stench of someone who was continually sweats and never bathes. But underneath that stench, the alcohol was stronger than cigarettes.

Didn't smell all that great but it was probably better than outside. Both inside and outside smelled absolutely horrible though. Inside was also a bit stale. Although now that he thought about it, he could smell a faint, calming, scent. It was probably Tess's perfume.

"Ever thought of using some air fresheners or scented candles in here?" He asked Tess just as she put the water down. He turned back around in order to properly get the water. Didn't want to break the glass.

"Hm?"

He carefully reached for the glass and tried to 'see' how exactly big it was so he wouldn't accidentally hit his nose or teeth with it. "Get something to freshen up the place. Don't mean to be rude, but it doesn't exactly smell like flowers in here."

Tess gave a sigh. "I wish. My boss wouldn't like it if I did though."

He wrinkled his nose. "Are you telling me he wouldn't like customers? I'll be honest, if it were me, I would probably walk out the door the minute I smelled whatever causes that funky smell."

"Between you and me I don't think he actually cares if there's any customers in here." She whispered. Unfortunately for the both of them, he's decided to take a sip of his water, only to take a spit take when he heard that; most likely sprayed her with it. Poor Tess.

He began thumping on his chest, coughing. "Are ya kidding me? If he don't want business then why does he have this place? A nice little place to look at like a ornament?" He was completely _baffled_ at this.

"Shhh," she put a slim finger to his lips, "not so loud."

He stopped as fast as he can. "He's not here is he?" He forgot that he couldn't see as he was shifting his eyes around, trying to catch a glimpse of this mysterious boss. It was in that moment that a seed that had been planted earlier started to grow.

He wanted to ignore that little growing seed.

"No, he's actually on a business trip." She said but continue to say, "but don't sigh in relief just yet, he could be back at any moment and wouldn't hesitate to hurt you if you offend him."

He gulped. The boss wasn't in the mafia… was he?

"Okay, so no meeting the head honcho got it." He made the 'okay' sign with his right hand. "But why do ya work for him anyways? He doesn't sound like a great guy and you probably can get a much better job than this joint," he said while tilting his head in confusion.

"It pays the bills." Was her reply.

He couldn't argue with that. "Fair point, but Tess, sweetheart, you could do so much better. I ain't one to tell people how to live their lives, but I gotta admit, for knowing someone for like what? Less than a hour? I really like you, and from what I can tell you deserve a little something. Be it a better job or a better life in general."

It was quiet for a moment, yet when Tess next spoke, her voice was soft and gentle. "… that's really nice to hear. Thank you."

The teen's expression softened as he tried to give her a warm smile. "Just sayin' it hows I sees it 's all."

Not even a moment later the door opened and a new, young, rough, male voice cut through the air. "Tess, there's a ton of KG's out there, anything to do with Krew?"

He blinked at this. When the new commer said 'crew' did they mean the mafia Tess's boss might be in or…?

"Nope." Tess popped.

"Then why…" the new commer trailed off.

He took that as his cue. "Heya!" He said with a grin and a wave where he thought this new person was. Which was behind him.

Silence. A minute passed. Footsteps came closer. They weren't heavy like Sig's, but they still held a certain weight that he couldn't exactly describe. In his defense, however, he doesn't normally spend his time observing sounds and smells to such a degree. If he did he could probably have a better idea on what was exactly going on, where he was; things like that. But actually seeing would help a whole ton more in his eyes.

The person stopped. They were right in front of him. He couldn't hear them breathe so he was starting to get worried until he heard a sharp intake of breath.

"You wouldn't happen to be a doctor would ya?" He couldn't help but ask.

"…what?" They asked, sounding caught off guard.

"I asked if ya were a doctor. Sig mentioned that he wanted to have me checked out. Fell inta deep water against my will and all that. And since it's so dark in here I can't really tell if yer a doc or not." He then decided to stop ignoring that little seed and just let it bloom. He made a show of looking around, waggled his finger in a 'come closer' gesture, leaned forward a little and said in a stage whisper with a hand to the side of his mouth, "but between you an' me I'm starting to get the impression that I've gone blind."

There. He admitted it. No more elephant in the room. He has gone blind and he was going to promptly freak out when he gets a chance to be alone in a room by himself.

"But ya know what? It might not be that bad. I think my hearing and sense of smell might be getting better. Which is neat." He made a show of rubbing his nose. "Except if it ain't this place. Man it smells worse than a wet dog on a hot summer's day in here! And outside ain't all that better. Yeesh, not to be rude or anything, but it's like no one out there cares about proper hygiene." He paused for a second then tilted his head. "Wait no. That's in here actually. Tess, sweet cheeks, you're the only thing good in here. Your perfume is quite pleasing on the nose."

Ah yes. Rambling. One of the many things he does best.

Another door opened. "Jak!" He heard Sig exclaimed. It was a bit strange, how Sig said the name. The 'k' was harder upon pronunciation than it would normally be said. "Just in time. The KG are coming together and I think it was because of our little friend's arrival."

He tilted his head. "What's the KG?" He asked.

This time everyone was silent.

It was the new person, Jak, that spoke. "The KG is short for Krimzon Guard and they're a bunch of corrupted law enforcers that would put you into prison just because they didn't like the way you were breathing."

He sat up straight and froze at this. "Excuse me?" He squeaked. He then let out a tense laugh. "You've got to be kidding me." He gave them a shaky smile.

He could feel the grave atmosphere and his smile fell. "Okay, I think I can take a hint." He sighed while threading his fingers through his hair.

A large, and already familiar, hand settled down on his shoulder. "Listen, I trust Jak with my life and you can too. He's going to protect you and take you over to a doctor like we talked about okay? Everything's going to be just fine." Sig had said it in such a sure tone that he couldn't help but believe him.

"Yeah. Okay." He have the older man a genuine smile. It was small, but still, it was true.

"Glad to hear. Now I got you your bag, but I'm going to hand it over to Jak. Then the both of you are going out to the back and get out of here from there. You're going to keep your head down and do everything Jak tells you." Sig explained.

"Got it boss," he said with a mock salute and a grin. "Jak says 'jump' and I ask 'how high?'"

This got him a light smack on the back of the head and a 'smart ass'. Usually he would get that sort of thing in a malicious sort of way. Yet this was in a teasing way that friends would do to each other. He should know, he and Jack would normally do that to one another.

How strange.

Sig helped him on to his feet. He was guided over to new guy Jak where said new guy Jak took over.

The arm that he took had a rough cloth on it, so had to have been wearing a long sleeved shirt or a jacket. The owner also had killer muscles. Like wowzer. The guy must be a stud.

He stood there for a moment, an idea coming to him that made him unsure. He shifted before moving his head to where he thinks his two gracious hosts were (and he swears to God that this whole head turning made him look absolutely ridiculous as he probably was facing the wrong direction than where he wanted) and bit his lip. He hesitated then spoke.

"Ya think you could do me a favor?" He asked them.

"What is it?" It was Tess.

"See, I have this friend and we're like, inseparable. The problem is, we're separated." He started to explain.

"So you want us to look for him." Sig concluded.

"Well…" he trailed off. He didn't really wanted to be more in debt to these guys more than he already was. "At the very least I would like it if you would keep a eye out for 'em."

"His name wouldn't happen to be 'Jack' would it?" Sig questioned. The guy probably had an eyebrow raised.

He felt Jak tense.

He blushed, rubbed the back of his head, and said, "yeah. He's my best pal. I would look for him myself, except ya know. I can't exactly see anything right now."

"I understand." Sig replied. "Think you can describe him for us so we'll know what we're looking for?"

He was more than welcome to start. "He's like, yay high," he used his hand to guster above his head to where he guessed Jack would stand, "blond, short hair. Down to his ears but he tends to style it up ya know? He has blue eyes and he likes to wear blue shirts. Has a closet full of 'em back home. Let's see, he's kinda muscular fer a fifteen year old. It's 'cause he knows self defense and all that. So don't get any ideas." He wagged his finger in warning.

"Don't worry, we wouldn't do anything like that." Tess remedied.

"Anything else?" Sig asked.

"Oh yeah. He's mute so you can't exactly get him to tell you anything. You'll either need ta know sign language, read an write, or at the _very least_ be great at playing Charades." He added. Knowing his and Jack's luck no one would understand Jack. Or have the patience for Jack to write and for them to read. He paused for a second before saying, "if ya do get to him tell him his friend is looking for him and that I'll slap him and give him a good scolding inta next week if he decides to play hero and gets hurt without me." He scowled at the last part.

"… play hero?" He heard Tess say with a cute little snort.

"Yeah yeah, he gets all sorts of trouble. Got one of thems 'hero complexes' or whatever. Sees someone in need of help and just goes on in without any thought. 'Oh I'll be fine'," he said in a mocking tone, "'don't be such a worry wart', 'it'll be like a adventure' he signs to me like constantly but do we get hurt? Almost every time!" He threw up his free hand at this. "If it weren't for me he'd be the very least be black an' blue all over all the time! Honestly if he would just listen to me we wouldn't be in half the messes we get in."

He then huffed and crossed his arms, bringing Jak's arm along with. He didn't really notice this as his thoughts were towards his Jack and his expression softened. "Although if he did he wouldn't be Jack." He murmured.

Everyone was silent as the took everything in and as the young teen's thoughts were taken over by his best friend.

 _'Is he going to be okay?'_ Was the main thought that reigned king in his mind. To him he was the main reason why Jack is still alive. Because if he didn't pull Jack back from doing something absolutely stupid then who would? It was the small victories that counted. Making sure Jack didn't go too far into the ocean, from climbing too high on a tree or at a cliff. From deciding it was a good idea to fight a bunch of thugs that was harassing an innocent person without calling the police. It was the little things that help make sure his friend didn't die an early death and him with white hair at a young age. Although with how everything's going he's probably going to end up grey before he turns eighteen.

"We'll tell him when we find him." Tess, bless her soul, told him with a soft tone that promised that she would do everything in her power to help him.

His heart swelled and soared. He got a feeling that he, somehow, managed to, and this was really stretching it in his eyes, make friends with people who are fiercely loyal.

"… thank you." He choked out through a lump in his throat.

"That we will. We just need a name to make sure that he absolutely knows it's you." Sig said. "And we never did catch it."

The man was probably smiling in good humor, trying to lighten things up. He could really get to like this guy.

"Ah, sorry 'bout that." He uncrossed his arms, freeing Jak's arm, and scratched his cheek. "Name's Dexter."

Immediately he felt Jak shift and he never knew someone could get any tenser than the guy already was. Jak sharply exhaled and shifted again.

"We need to get going before the place gets swamped with KG. We might've loss some time that we needed." Jak said briskly, voice harsh. "Come on… Dexter."

Dexter blinked. Wow someone was rude. But he'll give the guy the benefit of the doubt since the KG don't sound like people he wants to meet in a dark alleyway or at a dance.

"Sure, lead the way big guy." Dexter gave a grin to where Jak's voice was coming from. Since they were so close he was sure he got it right and was probably facing the other's face.

And with that, Jak and Dexter left the building.


	2. Chapter 2

It smelled absolutely disgusting at the back of the establishment that the two had just left. It _definitely_ smelled of rotting garbage that had been left out far too long.

He could hear the chatter of the outdoors more so than inside, so he could hear how there were actually much more activity than he thought.

"Suspicious activities have been reported in the area-"

"-spread out-"

"-take anyone matching the description-"

"-shoot on sight if they try to run."

The young teen couldn't suppress the shiver that racked through his body.

They slowly, but as quickly as they could considering their situation, made their way away from the voices. Dexter stumbled around but never fell down with the help of Jak.

"Try to keep quiet. Don't want anyone to hear us." Jak whispered into his ear.

"Got it." Dexter whispered back.

Unfortunately he kept on stumbling. The last straw was when he actually tripped. On a crack no less. Or at least he thought it was a crack. It didn't help that he didn't have any shoes on; just bare feet. Jak kept him from falling to his face, but it showed the guy that he couldn't be trusted with his own two feet. So, without even a grunt, Jak swept Dexter up into his arms and onto his back. Right next to what felt like a backpack.

"What are ya doing?!" Dexter whispered/yelled. "Ya gunna give me a heart attack!"

Jak growled. "You were going to kill yourself by the way you where walking. This way is safer and faster. Now _please_ be quiet so the both of us get out of here alive."

Dexter huffed, but ultimately stayed quiet. His Jack would probably agree with this Jak as his Jack was kind of a hypocrite. Always going to save the day and get hurt, but the moment Dexter gets hurt all bets are off.

But the question is, is this Jak like his Jack? Sure he's helping him so he wouldn't get hurt, but he said it so himself. So they would go faster; so Dexter won't drag them down.

Without stumbling around and making sure his charge wouldn't trip, Jak went much faster. Yet somehow it was agonizingly slow.

"I want you to keep your eyes closed okay? Just act like you're asleep." Jak instructed to him.

He grumbled a little but either way he couldn't see so really what was the point? He closed his eyes and did his best to give deep, even breaths.

There was obviously far more people out than before due to what he was hearing. However it was of the corrupted verity that were among them. And from what Dexter had heard be said earlier, Jak wasn't lying to him.

He felt Jak turn his head and he felt something smack into his face.

 _'The heck was that?'_ He thought as he dared not to say it out loud.

"We're almost out." Jak whispered to him. "Just hang on a little longer.

Dexter gave the smallest of nods that would look like he was shifting in his sleep to anyone else.

Ever so slowly did the noises change as did the scents. More shuffling of feet were heard and the ocean faded away. What could have been a minute or ten went by, they stopped.

"Do you have a pass?" A voice that sounded like it had gone through a filter tickled Dexter's ears. That voice had sounded so much like all the others that had promised pain that he heard earlier.

Great.

"Yeah," he heard Jak say, "is something wrong?"

"Nothing you should be concerned about." Was the reply. It was quiet for a moment before they asked something strange. "What's up with his ears?"

 _'Really?!'_ Dexter thought, _'what is up with everyone and my ears?! They're perfectly normal thank you very much!'_

"Had a accident when we were kids. He doesn't want to talk about it, you know?" Jak lied smoothly.

The other scoffed. "I wouldn't either if I was him. Continue on your way citizen."

"Thank you," he felt Jak nod before continuing to walk.

Once Dexter felt like they were a good distance away he said, "nice save, big guy."

"Thanks." He could hear the smirk and pride just in that one word. "But you'll still have to pretend to be asleep until I say so."

"Yeah yeah." Dexter grumbled.

The more they walked on, the more Jak moved in a steady pace, and the more humming of motors actually made Dexter sleepy. The guy actually had to stifle a yawn.

 _'Hmmm. Maybe I'll take a nap.'_ He thought. _'I certainly need one after what happened to me. And it'll look more convincing if I'm actually asleep… maybe when I wake up this would all actually be a dream.'_

Not even a moment later he was out cold.

* * *

Being shaken out of the sweet, sweet, abyss known as deep sleep was not something he liked.

He groaned. More shaking.

"Jack stop," he whined, "let me sleep in peace." He then snuggled deeper into the nice pillow.

The shaking got more aggressive.

Dexter made a rather unattractive noise much like a dying animal of some sort. "Fine. I'll get up. But I ain't gunna like it."

He shifted around, slowly becoming more aware of his surroundings. Such as the fact that the pillow isn't actually a pillow but a human body. And the fact that he couldn't see.

Immediately did the memories come crashing back.

"Jak?" He whipped his head up, searching uselessly around for a person who he never actually seen.

"Right here." Came Jak's voice from the human body Dexter had been using as a pillow. He honestly wouldn't be surprised if he had drooled on the guy in his sleep.

"Uhhhh." He ever oh so very intelligently sputtered out. "How long was I out?"

"Long enough." A new voice that was vaguely familiar filtered through his ears.

Dexter blinked. The voice kind of sounded like a middle aged man or something.

"My name is Samos, and Jak here said that you needed my help." The new voice, Samos, said.

A light bulb flickered on in Dexter's brain. "Oh! So you're the doc that can help me out with my sight?" He asked.

"That is," another new, rougher, voice came through, "if you're not actually here to harm us."

Dexter was shocked at this. "Wait, wait, wait a minute. You think that me, _me,_ of all people is here to hurt ya? Pretending to be all harmless and stuff ta get ya guard down? I ain't exactly a good actor." He then pointed to his eyes. "Pretty sure that I couldn't ever really act about this."

The new voice growled.

"Don't worry about him. He's just Torn." He heard Jak say.

Dexter stopped for a moment. "About what?" He asked.

Another moment gone by.

"What about what?" He heard Samos ask.

"What's he torn about?" Dexter explained. "Like maybe if he actually tells us what he's torn about we could, I don't know, help him? Maybe about little stuff like throat lozenges, because you probably want the name brand stuff. If it's about what type of house you want, can't exactly help ya since I have no idea what this place even looks like so no can do on the real estate."

He felt Jak begin to shake before he heard snickers from the guy.

"What? What did I say?" He knew he was funny but not that funny.

Samos coughed. "Torn is his name."

He stopped.

.

.

.

"Wait what?" He screwed his face up. "Who the heck names their kid Torn?"

He could practically feel the disbelief.

Dexter threw up his hands. "I'm serious! No one in their right mind would name a kid Torn! Do you know how name mocking worthy that could be? I do _not_ envy you. Honestly, it actually makes me feel better about my name."

"And what," Torn gritted out, clearly as mad as mad could be- no _livid_ , "could your name possibly be?" He could hear the teeth grinding.

"Dexter." He said simply.

"Dexter." Torn repeated, rather deadpan.

"Hey! It's a name that's only for nerds! 'Oh look it's Point Dexter he probably knows everything about stupid stuff like math and algorithms'. I ain't a nerd!" The next set of words he said with a hand on his chest and chin held high. "I, am an artist."

"An artist." Samos repeated.

"You bet!" Dexter smiled rather cheekily, "give me a pencil, paper, or paints and a canvas and bam! The best thing you ever did see."

He then frowned. "But uh, it's kinda hard to do that when you can't actually see."

All the while this was going on, Jak was calming down. Once Dexter said that last part, he was as cool as a cucumber.

"Then we should get him to fix your eyes huh?" Jak had asked.

"Thank you!" Dexter smiled. He then patted Jak's shoulder. "He gets me."

Samos then coughed before saying, "alright. Jak, put him over at that bed so I can take a look."

Jak grunted and Dexter felt the guy move around. With a surprisingly great amount of gentleness, he put Daxter on a rather hard surface that had to be the bed.

Dexter shifted, trying to get all nice and comfy, but he was going to get an exam of some sort so he wouldn't expect much comfort. He heard repeated clunking in a way that sounded like footsteps. Most likely that Samos person. High heels? No, didn't held that click clack.

As Dexter pondered what exactly he was hearing, he didn't really notice that it stopped in front of him. But when he did everything was silent.

 _'… uhhhhh should I say something?'_ He questioned himself, not really knowing what to do. Maybe he had to sit up straight and breath deeply and don't say anything at all like at the doctor's office. _'I didn't get abandoned to die did I?!'_

He mentally shook his head. It wouldn't help to think such thoughts Jack would say. And he would be right.

So, in order not to get _too_ bored, he tried to understand his surroundings better. The bed was hard, this was mentioned before. The sheets were course, rough, whatever fits the best in Dexter's mind. Probably makes skin itch if one touches it too long. It either was a bunk bed or there was a low ceiling as he felt his head nearly brush against something. The bed wasn't all that tall, as Dexter could plant his feet on the ground. Speaking of ground, it was cold, felt of cement, and felt like it needed to be clean fifty years ago. Just touching it made Dexter want to shower.

For the smells… oh how would he put it? It wasn't really bad compared to the bar or the port or whatever. It was stale air, for that he was certain. He bets that no one ever cracks open a window. He heard plants would help with the stale smell but he wasn't all that sure. He never really paid all that much attention in biology class with…

"Mr. Sage!" He gasped out rather loudly, smacking his right hand on top of his left hand's palm.

"Excuse me?" Samos sounded confused.

Dexter felt his eyes grow wide and he pointed to where he heard Samos and said, "you sound a lot like Mr. Sage! One of my teachers from school!"

"… I don't think I know anyone by that name."

Dexter waved it away. "I kinda figured. Your voice just sounded a lot like his, but I didn't think of it just now. Sometimes stuff like that happens."

"Hmmm I can't help but agree with that. Now could you stay still? I'm not finished yet."

He felt himself deflate a little when he heard that. "Yeah. Okay."

 _'So what now? Daydream? Actually that sounds like a good idea.'_ Dexter thought to himself.

Okay so he's at the beach with Jack. They're making sandcastles. Wait no sandcastles are hard to make. Finding shells? Eh, better but not all that fun unless they find some cool funky one. Maybe wrestling? Yeah good. No great! He could finally win! Yeah, he's wrestling against Jack at the beach and they tumble into the water, ending up splashing each other and dunking their heads into the water. They go far out enough to catch a glimpse of a sea turtle.

The seagulls are playing musical chairs on the posts of a long gone pier and pushing the other off which causes that bird to fly around and push that one off and it's an endless cycle until they leave. Some fish swim around them but ultimately swim away if he and Jack get too rough.

Their stomachs rumble telling them it's time to go eat so they swim back to shore and not for the first time does Dexter wants to get some of the coconuts but they're not ready yet. So they go back into town. No, they go to the nearby forest to find any wild berries to snack on. They find some really big blueberries, and a few small strawberries. Not much but it was good and _then_ they go back into town. They push and shove each other in a playful way and Jack's body language is telling him that he's having so much fun if his smile wasn't already telling that.

The town was a bright and clean as ever and they just wander around, not really all that desperate to get back home. They eventually end up at Jack's place. Or was Dexter's place closer? Nah doesn't really matter.

They end up making some crunchy peanut butter and blueberry lemon jam sandwiches with some potato chips and sour cream and onion dip. Mmmm classic lunch food. They joke around, drinking lemonade to wash all the food down and then they go to Jack's room to play some video games while Dexter keeps on telling him that he could recreate the whole entire thing in 2D glory. Of course not as a game! He doesn't know a thing about programming. Nah, maybe like an animated show or something. But then he would have to say goodbye to his hands because they would probably cramp up and just fail on him if he does it constantly for a long period of time. Like seriously has Jack not seen him after he gets inspired and lock himself in his art area to paint/draw until he comes out like a zombie? Imagine what would happen if he ends up as an animator. He would probably die from ignoring self needs.

Unless a certain someone is there to drag him out Jack would sign. Dexter would then act all dramatic and say oh if only I had a hot babe to get me out of that hell and make me a good meal and make sweet love into the night because we're _adults_. Then Jack would shove him because he's only fourteen years old and really people our age are too young for that and really Jack you're too pure while I'm the sin master. The sinnamon roll. And Jack would roll his eyes and-

"-done."

Dexter made a noise as he was brought out of his imagination. "Uhh what?"

"I said 'I'm done'. Now, your eyes can heal and you will be able to see again, but you'll have to keep those bandages on. You'll have to change them every so often and put on this ointment, and you'll probably need help with that. Of course getting as much green eco as possible will help with speeding up the process." His voice seemed to be slightly irritated. As if he could be doing something better but if that doesn't sound like the story of Dexter's life then he doesn't know what is.

But there was something that caught his attention. "Uhhh. Don't mean to sound… I don't know, ignorant or whatever, but what's green eco?"

When he said that, he heard everyone shift. Something was going on. He just didn't know what. As he waited for someone to say _something,_ he touched the area around his eyes and felt the bandage. It was wrapped around his head. The more he paid attention to it, the more he felt it's pressure. Of it pressed against his skull.

"I'm sorry but could you repeat that? I don't think I heard you correctly." Samos asked, sounding baffled.

"He said he doesn't know what _green eco_ is." Torn growled, speaking for the first time in a while. "How can you not know what _green eco_ is? Do you even know eco in general?"

Dexter felt his face flush. "Hey-!" He started only to be interrupted.

"Look, whatever happened to him to make him lose his sight probably made it so he can't remember what eco is." Jak tried to rationalize. Thank god for this Jak.

" _Thank you._ Okay, so for all I know, maybe I do know what eco is, but I never heard the name of it or just forgot the name. Sometimes things like that happens. You forget the names of things. Like forgetting the name for door."

He could hear Torn mutter and mumble in annoyance.

Samos sighed before going into a lecture. "Eco is the life force of this planet. It keeps things going so to speak. There are six different types of eco, five of which we are absolutely certain exist. The first main four are, green eco, blue eco, yellow eco, and red eco. Green eco heals everything. From the animals to the plants. Blue eco is energy. We use it to run our lights and zoomers and much more. Yellow eco is like an explosive, fire if you will. While red eco gives strength. It is possible to turn blue, yellow, and red eco into bullets in order to use guns."

"Uh, but what about the other two?" Dexter tilted his head.

"I'm getting there. There's _dark eco_. Honestly it's the worst type of eco as it twists things into unrecognizable creatures. And for some insane reason it's one of the main eco that we use to power Haven City and I don't know _why._ "

"Okay, dark eco bad, other good gotcha… but the last one?"

"Just hold your yakkows!"

 _'Wait what's a yakkow?'_

"Finally there's the sixth type of eco. Light eco. Unfortunately we don't know much about its properties as it's mythical. No one actually knows if it's real or not."

Silence. Processing… Too… much… information…

"… I think…" Dexter ruffled his hair. "I think I need to think about all this."

"What do you mean?" Torn snapped.

"I mean that I never heard any of this before!" Dexter snapped back. "Where I'm from there's no such thing as eco! But as far as I know maybe there is, but we never found out about it but you guys have!" He then rubbed his forehead.

"Okay look," he put his arms to his knees while using his right hand to gesture, "I think I fell outa the sky and into some deep water, literally, became _blind_ and I can't find my best friend in a strange new place where I'm lucky enough to find some nice people who will actually help me out. Oh and in this new place there's corrupt police, some magical power things called eco, and whatever a yakkow is. Now for all I know you're just yanking my leg because 'oh look at the blind kid let's make him believe in things that don't exist because he can't even _see_ ' so don't blame me if I'll take it all with a grain of salt, _Torn_ , even if that's your real name. Because seriously. Torn."

He half wondered if Jak was facepalming like his Jack would be doing if he were here.

"Look, whether or not you believe us about this, you'll have to trust us when we say we're helping you." He heard Jak say.

Dexter slumped his shoulders. "At this point do I even have a choice?" He couldn't help but bitterly ask.

A hand settled down on his shoulder without any warning, making him flinch.

"Hey," Jak started, "I'm going to help you out, okay? Even if you don't believe me, I'm going to do it anyway. Okay?"

Reluctantly, he felt himself lean into the touch. He couldn't help but feel like he could trust Jak and that he was telling the truth. He just wished that Torn and Samos wasn't watching because they probably were. What was happening felt… private.

"Yeah. Okay." He slowly exhaled, feeling exhausted all over again. Now he was wondering if that nap was worth it and if it actually helped him or not.

Jak grunted in confirmation. For a moment Dexter let himself believe it was his Jack that grunted.

 _'I wonder if Jack would sound like him if he spoke.'_

Sometimes he really hates selective mutism.

"So what now?" He asked. "So far the plan was to get me to a doctor. My eyes are gunna be a-okay, but what's next?"

He felt the hand slip from his shoulder and he heard Jak shift his body. Samos hummed.

"Well, until your eyes get better, you should stay here where it's safe." Jak said, voice level and demanding. As if he was making a challenge.

"What?" Torn gritted out.

"You heard me, he stays here. This is the safest place for him that I know."

"As flattering as that could be, are you sure Jak? We don't exactly have room to take care of a blind child." Samos interjected.

"The fourteen year old is blind, not deaf." Dexter piped up. "Look, I don't know the place, as I said before, but isn't there a place big enough to take me in?"

Samos hummed once more.

"No." Torn immediately shot down before Samos could say anything.

"Now Torn." Samos turned his attention to Jak and Dexter. "There is one place, but if truth be told I'm unsure if you'll be able to use it."

"Why not?" For some reason that didn't really sound like a question to Dexter when Jak said that.

"It was over by main town, but the KG were becoming too close for comfort,so we had to leave. Last I heard a family moved into it."

Jak was the one to hum this time. "I'm going to check it out."

Dexter heard him shift. Then Jak said, "you'll have to stay here until I come back."

The young teen jolted. "Wait what?"

Jak sighed. "Look, I don't know what could happen on the way there and back. For all we know it could be destroyed or run by the Krimzon Guard. It's safer for you to stay here until then." He explained.

Of course Dexter pouted at this. "Okay fine. But I expect to hear _exactly_ what the place is like ya hear?"

"Loud and clear," Jak said with a hint of mirth, "I'll be back."

Footsteps indicated his departure.

Silence once more. Man that's awkward.

More shifting. "Well," it was Samos, "I suppose I'll go talk to Torn… about things… over there…"

Dexter snorted. "Yeah go talk about stuff in a place where I have no idea is as I don't know where 'there' is. So what? You expect me to just sit here and do nothing while you go and do whatever it is you do other than being a doctor?"

"Well… yes." Samos said rather frankly.

The teen groaned.

"Well doesn't children-"

"-teens-"

"-your age do nothing all day?"

"Yeah! But it's because it's something we want to _do_. It's way more boring if we do nothing because we're forced to. It's like being told to read a book that you would enjoy reading, but since you're told to read it and like are expected to get a grade and discuss about the 'symbolism' that the author probably didn't actually intended to put in there sucks all the joy out of it. Or even watching a movie. Like can't we enjoy things and not work on a worksheet at the same time that takes your attention away from the movie? And then you get confused because you have no idea what's going on and you have to look back and forth just to try and find out if you missed a question or not and it sucks." He ranted.

"… I imagine so." Dexter did not hear the strain in the voice or even Samos talk at all. He just continued to rant.

"And the teacher is all 'blah blah blah oh so and so would never do such a thing' when everyone knows he's the spawn of Satan! I don't care moss for brains but he's playing you! He's pure evil and Erik is totally trying to get into your daughter's pants!"

"Wait what." Samos was honestly sounding a bit distressed.

"Like honestly I get blamed for _everything._ 'Oh Dexter was the one who destroyed the lab station'. I did no such thing! I swear, if it was an old fashioned school I would get hit by a ruler every day! Instead I get detentions and suspensions and god damn it he's playing you all like a fiddle. I would not be surprised if he grows up to be a mass murderer or something." He finished off with crossing his arms.

"… look, Dexter was it? I'm a busy man and I've already wasted enough time on… this, so you'll just have to be quiet and oh I don't know, take a nap. Sleeping is supposed to help accelerate healing." Okay wow Samos sounded really irritated. Not exactly angry, nah that was Torn, but very much irritated.

Dexter, oh he groaned. He moaned. He desperately wanted to flop down on the bed like a real drama queen, but he didn't for two reasons.

1) he feared to break his back.

2) he hadn't exactly figured out _where_ he was on the bed. The foot or the head?

With a huff he searched for whatever felt like the closest headboard. Or whatever it was called. He never really payed attention to that stuff.

However he did have a mini heart attack when his hand suddenly fell off the mockery of a bed.

 _'Go slow,'_ he mentally noted, _'got it.'_

Eventually he managed to maneuver his body to the whole bed and actually got to lay down. It was a small victory, but a victory nonetheless. The bed itself wasn't very big. It was longer than he was tall, but he felt like if he was a tosser and turner type of sleeper, he wouldn't stay on it long.

Great.

So with absolutely nothing to do, he tried to sleep. Key word: tried.

He could barely hear Torn and Samos talk to each other but it was enough to keep nagging him. Other than that it was relatively quiet. No noise from any vehicles, no shuffling of feet, and most importantly, no KG's talking. But ya know. Torn and Samos were still chatting away.

The hard bed certainly didn't help. Neither did the rock for a pillow.

Although he has fallen asleep in strange positions before, yet that was because of how he tends to disregard any and all basic functions for the sake of making art. And then Jack would have to drag him away and actually take care of himself.

Jack…

God this was so weird. It shouldn't be like this. They were always so close. But for something like this to happen? Dexter had no idea. He couldn't remember. And it scared him and he hates it and he hates it and hates it hates it hates it -

Jack wouldn't want him to fall into despair! So he should stop thinking about it. Like how he shouldn't think about his sight problem right now. After all, he isn't alone. He should wait until he has proper time to freak out. Jack would understand. Even if the guy never liked the fact that Dexter tends to bottle said emotions up, it works. Or at least that's how Dexter sees it.

 _'Now the question is, where in the world is Jack? And will Jak actually help me find him?'_

Okay wow Dexter never thought he would think of a sentence(s) like that. Jak finding Jack. Really, spoken out loud with no one knowing the context, it sounds like someone's trying to find themself. Ah yes, the classic journey of self discovery. This ain't one of those.

Jak… hmmm. Dexter, he wasn't exactly sure how he should feel about the guy. He actually seems nice when not talking about the KG. Maybe they could be friends? That is if Jak can handle the Dexter charm.

Immediately his heart twisted.

 _'Whoa there. Not thinking about my Jack right then. No need to panic…'_ But he couldn't help it. Dark thoughts began to swirl around his mind.

What if Jack left him? What if Jack didn't like him? What if Jack hated him? What if Jack actually hated him this whole time? What if he was just stringing him along, silently laughing at him? Waiting for the moment to do this to him and see him as a complete and utter mess?

 _'NO!'_ Dexter violently thought. No, those thoughts were wrong. Jack would never do that! They've been best friends for far too long. There's no way he would be like that.

Dexter was always too paranoid for his own good.

Time to get back on track. Jak.

Hoo boy. Okay so Jak seems decent enough, they could be friends, and he could actually be telling the truth when saying that he would help him. Yet why does it feel like there's a small nagging… thing (thought?) telling him that Jak's lying. That they're all lying. Is it because he can't see? They say that the eyes are windows into the soul, but if you can't see anything at all, then how could you see into someone's soul? He couldn't see faces, the emotions behind them.

Dexter always prided himself in being able to read the secret language that is body language. He could read Jack like a favorite book forwards and backwards, and Jack could do the same with him. Other people were like a new book to him. Some were absolutely boring to him, but others were interesting. It's like seeing how people tick. Of course they can still hide things. It isn't that hard if you've practiced to keep things hidden away.

But now? In this strange place? He has no clue whatsoever. He only has voices. No eyes, no faces, no _bodies_ to tell him otherwise. He suppose action speaks louder than words, he has seen it after all, but the actions of actually helping him? He guess that helps their credibility.

He just wishes that he actually knew what to do. Jack would…

Slowly, ever so slowly, did his thoughts disappear into nothingness.

* * *

Bit by bit did Dexter come back to the world of the living. His mind was foggy, however. Nothing was really going through it until he realized he felt something wet on his face.

"Blugh." He sorta smacked his hand to his face. Oh wow he couldn't feel his right arm. Was he laying on it? But ew. Drool was all over his face.

A sharp pain was eating away at his stomach and not even a moment later it gave a growl of epic proportions. Or at least that's what it sounded like to him.

"Bluuuuugggggghhhhnnnnnngggg." Dexter was not feeling it.

Chuckles were the sound that really brought him to reality followed by the words, "I see you finally woke up."

 _'Jak.'_ Dexter's mind supplied.

He then made a noise not unlike a dying animal. Again.

"Jaaaaaak," he whined, "why didn't you wake me up?"

"Well it might be because you were out like a light, I couldn't wake you up no matter how hard I tried, oh and time has no meaning when one's asleep." There was _definitely_ a smirk on his face.

"Yeah yeah smart alec whatever ya say." His stomach then grumbled again. "Ya got any food on ya?"

Another chuckle. "I managed to grab some fruit if that's what you're asking."

Dexter huffed. "I'll take it." He then slowly sat up and tried to wipe away any drool on his face. He didn't feel like he succeeded.

The teen held out his left hand, waiting for whatever it could be.

"Got us some apples," Jak explained as he sat the fruit into the awaiting appendage, "not much else though."

Dexter shrugged. "I like apples. Maybe if I eat enough of them it could keep Sir Grouchalot and his apprentice Mr. Destroyed Throat."

Once more, chuckles reached his ears.

Eh, it wasn't his greatest insult, but in his defense he just woke up. Still, it was enough to keep someone amused.

"I think it's going to take more than just an apple to keep Samos and Torn away from you." Jak supplied before Dexter heard a crunch. Most likely eat his own apple.

"Great." Dexter said oh so sarcastically. He then brought the apple closer to his face. He accidentally bumped it against his cheek, but it was close enough to his mouth.

But wait a moment… he didn't want to accidentally eat the stem. He didn't know where it was on the fruit.

His right arm was still practically useless, but it started to get the pins and needles feeling back into it. He quick flapped it a couple of times, trying to accelerate the process of actually being able to use it again. It was hard, in his opinion, to move an apple around he saw fit with just one hand.

Finally did his arm actually went back to normal. With this, he could actually truly feel the apple.

Immediately did the stem poke his right hand. Alrighty then.

He maneuvered it around so the top and bottom would be on the side. He then used his left hand to move it back towards his mouth and _finally_ did he get to eat it.

 _Tart_.

His tongue lept back as he winced. Wasn't expecting that. But he took the rest of the bite off of the apple and chewed.

It was something that's for sure.

"… You don't like it?" Jak asked.

Dexter stopped chewing for a second before swallowing. "Nah I do. Just wasn't expecting the taste is all." He explained.

The other hummed in satisfaction within the answer.

They both continue to eat in silence, and if Dexter really wanted to, he could pretend that he was over at Jack's place after a sleepover on the new furniture that his friend's uncle was scammed into buying from who knows where. That he was eating a nice, no need to make it yourself, breakfast with his best pal.

But he didn't he would tell himself. Because Jak wasn't Jack, and he wasn't over at Jack's house but some weird building in the middle of who knows where, on a bed that made a pile of hay feel comfy. However he was eating a nice, no need to make it yourself, breakfast. Just with a stranger rather than his best pal.

Speaking of…

"Sooo…" Dexter drew out. "You always lived in this town?"

"City." Jak clarified. "And no."

Dexter tilted his head to the left. "Ya mind telling me the name?" He asked.

Jak paused. "Sandover Village. Right next to the ocean."

Dexter smiled at that. "Oooo sounds nice. I'm a ocean person myself believe it or not. My town's called Sandy Hills. Guess there's a theme going on huh? The town isn't that far from the beach, but man does it look amazing."

It was silent once more for a moment, and then, "what's it like?"

His smile grew. "Thought ya never asked! It's actually pretty small considering. Just big enough to be called a town ya know? And it's incredibly _clean_. Like not a spec of garbage in sight! Which is impressive if ya ask me. There's like parties or whatever held to go down the beach or even just around town picking up the crud other people left behind. Gotta admit though, you gotta admire their dedication 'cause everything looks so pretty. Not to mention we use practically nothing but solar power for our energy. Maybe a little wind power, but that's mostly for the places that never got any of them solar panels. We also use rainwater for just everything. Washing, cleaning, watering plants, even drinking if it goes through a filter. Although we can use the water from the ocean, but that's only for emergencies. Never been a drought that I can remember so yeah, don't really use that. Hmmm what else? Oh! We got a real variety of buildings. Like you hardly see two houses that look the same. Pretty much everyone's got a vegetable garden or whatever and a flower garden. Some people got chickens. But then there's this one lady who just got nothing but _birds_ all over her place. I swear her house even looks like a bird cage! Let's see. We got fishermen and oh yeah! There's this one farmer who has a bunch of cows and just sleeps all the time! Man he really needs to get his priorities straight."

Finally did Dexter take a deep breath, but before he could continue Jak interrupted him.

"What's solar power and wind power?" He asked, throwing Dexter off.

"Wait you don't know what that is?" Dexter asked back, completely baffled by this.

"Maybe I do, but I just forgot the name." Jak said.

This made Dexter grin. He's really beginning to like the guy.

"Alright wise guy, lemme tell ya a thing or two about a thing or two. Okay so solar and wind power are renewable energy. Energy that we can use because it's always there. It will never go away yeah? Solar power is using the power of the sun with solar panels. So like, since the sun is super bright we somehow get to harvest that light and turn it into energy. Dunno much about the specifics but I think they got like batteries to hold the energy and then you kinda tap into it and then bam your lights are on. Wind power is using these huge wind turbines, kinda like windmills now that I think about it, and the wind turns it around, creating energy and then you probably got them batteries to hold the energy like in the solar panels and then you hook up the power then bam there's your electricity. Of course there's other stuff like hydropower where ya build dams and the water rushes out and then that's how things get turning and there's your energy. Or like, watermills or whatever. Although we _are_ a little bit too far from the nearest river so that wasn't exactly an option but whatever. I think there's like a version of that called tide energy, but it uses the power of the rising and falling tide. We don't use those two though."

Jak hummed. He took another bite of his apple and was silent. Dexter, having nothing better to do while waiting for Jak's response (that is if the hum wasn't it), took another bite of his own apple.

He thinks he was almost done with it.

"Never heard of it. But that sounds interesting. Think I know a guy who would be interested to hear about it." Jak finally said.

Dexter tilted his head to the right and swallowed. "Really?"

"Mmmhmmm."

If Dexter could, he would blink. But he couldn't as his eyes were closed and had bandages covering them.

"That's cool I guess."

Another hum.

Dexter coughed. "So uh, how long was I out this time?"

"… roughly a day."

This made the young teen sputter. "A day?! You have _got to_ be kidding me!"

"Nope. Sorry." He only sounded a _little_ sorry.

The boy groan. "That's great. Just great. I take it you had more than enough time to scout out the place?"

"Hm? Oh yeah. No one's using it and honestly there's not a lot of KG in that area. We could probably lay low over there for a while as long as it stays looking abandoned. At least for the top portion that is. There's a hidden section underneath it and it doesn't look like anyone actually knew of it when they were living there." Jak informed him.

"Oh really? Cool!" Dexter immediately said until something clicked, and he did a double take. "Wait what do you mean by 'we'?"

Does this mean he won't get his freak out time as soon as he thought he would? He seriously needs some time alone to freak out. Without anyone seeing. Without anyone knowing. He already had a mini outburst, but he needs a full on flipping out. Preferably alone.

Jak sighed. "Look, right now you're blind, and no offense but, you wouldn't really know how to take care of yourself properly. I would be there to help you out since pretty much everyone I trust is busy."

He just sat there, taking it in. So much in such little amount of time…

"Okay wait how old are you? Because you don't sound like a old fart and man that would be weird if you were _and_ taking care of me, _which,_ you're not because I can take care of myself."

"I'm seventeen, and I'm going to _help_ you. Better?"

Now at this Dexter choked on a bit of his apple. Immediately did Jak came over to thump on his back, helping him get the food dislodged.

Coughing, Dexter moved his head to where he thought Jak's face was and asked, "are you serious?!"

"Yes." He honestly sounded baffled.

"But you sound like you could be in your twenties or something! Shouldn't you be in school?!" Dexter was completely _dumbfounded_ by this new tidbit of information.

Jak sighed. "I don't think me being in school is important."

"Important my butt! Look, I don't like school as much as the next guy but I'm pretty sure you're supposed to be in school until you're eighteen unless you're like a prodigy or something! Ya know what it sounds like to me? Haven isn't doing a great job in the school department! Like seriously! Adults spew out all that 'children are the future' crud all the time! Like seriously! Whoever's running this place should get the boot or something!"

"It's not that simple, okay? But Praxis isn't going to stay as the ruler long, I promise you that."

"Praxis? They the one who's the mayor or whatever?"

" _Baron_ Praxis decided that he would make a great dictator. The people don't exactly agree." Jak spat out the title like it was acid. "And it's not that easy to actually speak out about it."

Dexter frowned. "Then how do you know he's going to get out of office or whatever the heck it's called?"

Silence. And then… "don't worry about it okay?" Jak said, ruffling Dexter's hair.

He swatted at it, "I'm probably going to worry about it anyway. I ain't known as a worry wort for nothin'. But it's freaking _rational_ I tell ya."

"Sure," Jak chuckled. "You done with your apple?"

"Yeah, since I nearly died on it." Dexter snarked.

"Then we're ready to go."

"Wait what?" Dexter tilted his head again, and he felt his eyebrows furrowed together.

"We're leaving for the new safehouse," Jak explained, taking the apple core from Dexter's hand.

"Just like that?"

"Yes. We need you to get settled in as soon as possible." He then heard Jak walking a little bit away before duel thumps were heard.

The younger teen groaned. "Fine I guess."

Jak made his way back and said, "that's what I like to hear. Now let me get you up, we're going for a ride."

Dexter huffed, holding out his hand, waiting for the hand that belonged to his… god he doesn't want to say caretaker. Protector was a better word to him in this situation. Yeah, that's it. Protector.

Once those, warm, calloused hands took a hold of his, he was slowly pulled up. Dexter was then guided out of the area with a 'there's beds on either side of us', and a 'we're going to go up some steep stairs'.

When they got out into the fresh air, Dexter took a deep breath. It stunk, like cigarettes mixed with some bad version of a campfire, and he began to think it was a theme in the city. Smelly air. However it was dull, so it didn't really grate on his nerves.

The ground was still a cement, but it was craggy, and pebbles were everywhere. Digging into his feet. Walking on metal was better than on pebbles.

"Alright. Time to get in our ride. Ever rode on a zoomer before?" Jak asked, sounding like he had a grin on his face.

Dexter just stopped. If he could, he would stare at Jak blankly. "A what?" He deadpanned.

At this, Jak laughed.


End file.
